Goodyear appears to be preparing to lay off workers at its Gadsden, Ala., tire plant, not long after accepting 740 union buyouts at the factory, the Gadsden Times newspaper reports.
The Akron tire maker, which has been struggling with declining revenue and a low stock price, told the paper that it is “right-sizing staffing levels to accommodate an adjusted production schedule” following the hundreds of voluntary buyouts for the plant’s unionized workforce.
The Gadsden plant, Goodyear’s oldest, opened in 1929. The plant had 1,400 workers at the start of December prior to the 740 buyouts taking effect on Dec. 20. As of Tuesday the plant had 650 workers. Until last month’s buyouts, it had been Gadsden’s largest private employer. Employment there peaked at 4,200 in the 1980s.
